Court protects lawyer identities in tax data transfers
Third party actors, such a bank employees, lawyers and accountants, should not be named when Switzerland hands over tax data to other countries, the Swiss federal administrative court has ruled.
The verdict upholds a complaint from the Swiss data commissioner’s office against a finance ministry decision to include the names of such professionals. People who are not directly linked to a request for administrative assistance should have their privacy respected, said the court on Tuesday.
The debate over naming lawyers and the like, who may have helped bank clients cheat on their taxes, has been raging for several years. The finance ministry insists that this practice is essential to keeping to the spirit, as well as the letter, of laws involving the transfer of tax data to other countries.
Officials also say it would be too time consuming and costly to comb through mountains of documents to redact names.
However, judges disagree, saying that this would infringe the human rights of individuals and their right to privacy under Swiss data protection law.
Therefore, names of people with a connection to bank clients being investigated for tax offences should be redacted or such persons should be warned in advance. This applies particularly to people whose names appear accidentally in documents, the court said.
Pro-Palestine protests extend to Basel and Fribourg universities
This content was published on
Demonstrators called for an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions and disassociation with Chaim Weizmann, the first Israeli president.
This content was published on
In many cases, China's use of AI undermines the national security of the US and its allies, according to a US government representative.
Swiss Hells Angels trial alleges rape and money laundering
This content was published on
An allegedly high-ranking member of the Hells Angels is accused of money laundering totalling millions and rape, among other serious crimes.
SWISS is airline ‘group flagship’ says Lufthansa boss
This content was published on
Despite challenges, Lufthansa and its most important subsidiary, Swiss International Airlines, promise increased satisfaction and continued growth.
Swiss rediscover communist zeal after 84-year hiatus
This content was published on
Over 300 participants founded the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP) at its congress in Burgdorf in canton Bern at the weekend.
This content was published on
Nemo brought the Eurovision Song Contest to Switzerland with a victory on Saturday evening in Malmö, Sweden. It is Switzerland's third victory in the history of the music contest.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss-US tax data transfer method ‘violates law’
This content was published on
The Swiss Supreme Court has already issued a ruling that bans the indiscriminate disclosure of people’s names without forewarning the individuals involved. This applies even when Switzerland has a treaty to automatically exchange tax information with other countries, as it does with 30 nations including the US. These treaties were signed following a US criminal…
Court says disclosure of bank employee’s data ‘illegal’
This content was published on
A Swiss court has ruled that the transfer of a former Credit Suisse bank employee’s data to the United States as part of American tax evasion investigations was illegal.
This content was published on
Max*, who used to work at a prominent Swiss bank, tells swissinfo.ch about the mental strain of living with the fear of being arrested, extradited and dragged into a US criminal investigation. Having worked on the North America desk of his bank’s wealth management unit, Max’s name was handed over to the US authorities without his…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.